


A limited number of days

by annannette (fanetjuh)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soulmates AU, mentions of death and war, mostly happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-17 02:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5850394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanetjuh/pseuds/annannette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jordan has always had the dog tag, which counted the day until he would meet his soulmate, around his neck. Today it's at 0. Today he's gonna meet her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A limited number of days

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my Teen Wolf Bingo Card on Tumblr

Jordan stepped out of the shower. He was wearing a towel around his waist and he brushed his hair with his hand. Just like every day he checked the dog tag around his neck, but today he checked to make sure that it would say what he thought it would say.

“0 more days”, the dog tag said.

Jordan held his breath and he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Today he was going to meet the girl he would love for the rest of his life. He had been waiting for this day since he had come back from Afghanistan. He had served his time, he had served his country and now he was ready to take care of the other half of his beating heart.

For years the numbers on the dog tag had counted down. In the beginning they had barely been readable, but after a while they could be counted as years, months or even weeks. The last few weeks they had been talking about days.

He took the towel of and put on his police uniform. He knew that love could happen in the most unexpected place, even when you knew that this was the day that you were going to meet your love, but he couldn’t help fantasizing about her. At least, he thought it would be a her. He knew that even that couldn’t be said for sure until the moment their eyes would meet.

Maybe she would be a young criminal. Maybe she would be one of those girls stealing jewelry that barely costs a penny. Or she could drive that fast that she would get a speeding ticket.

But there were another thousand possibilities.

They could meet in the coffeeshop where he would get his morning coffee. They could meet in the bar where he would have his lunch. Or they could meet on the streets, while they classically bump into each other because they were too busy thinking about today.

She would have the same kind of countdown. Maybe she was wearing it as a necklace like him, or maybe she would be wearing it as a bracelet. Probably she was as excited and nervous this morning as he was.

Eventually, without having breakfast because he had no idea how he was supposed to eat on a day like this, he closed the door of his small apartment behind him. Normally he would take the car that was parked in front of his house, but today he didn’t want to take any risks and would go by foot. He had to keep his eyes open. He had heard more than enough stories about people who had met their soulmate without even seeing them. He didn’t want that to happen.

Not to him and not to her.

But no matter how slow he walked and no matter how much he kept his eyes open, the roads were empty.

No girls crossing the street, no guys passing by.

He was all alone.

Maybe that wasn’t that weird since it was only five in the morning. Most people were still in bed or were slowly waking up to get ready for their day.

He knew that it was silly.

This day counted as many hours as all the other days.

When the tag said that he was going to meet his soulmate today, he was going to meet them today. It didn’t matter that he had woken up a few hours early. It didn’t matter that he had taken the early morning shift. What did matter was that he had to keep his eyes wide open.

“Good morning, Parrish.” Sheriff Stilinski nodded when the young deputy walked into the office. “It’s your special day today, isn’t it?” He smiled and Jordan smiled back at him.

Although Jordan had not told everyone about the countdown getting closer to zero, the Sheriff had of course noticed it anyway.

Maybe the Sheriff had simply seen the numbers one day and had marked the date. Or maybe he realized that his deputy was nervous.

“Yes, it is.” Jordan nodded back at his boss and the Sheriff wrapped an arm friendly around his shoulders.

“All will be well, I promise. I was afraid that Claudia and I wouldn’t get to meet either, but see what happened.” The Sheriff grabbed the picture of his family from his desk. “I've met the most wonderful wife in the world and we have the best kid a parent could wish for.” He smiled and put the picture down again. “And that will be yours too.”

Jordan hoped the Sheriff was right. Although he had never had much trouble with being alone and having the whole apartment to himself, he was dreaming of a family life ever since he had been able to count the weeks. He imagined how they would get a son or a daughter, how he would teach them how the countdown worked, that they didn’t need to worry about it. He imagined how they would have picnics near the lake during the summer and how they would play boardgames next to the fireplace during the winter.

The rest of the morning everything was quiet, until the door of the office opened.

“Excuse me, sir? Have you seen Stiles? The Sheriff’s son?” A young pretty girl with strawberry red hair walked into the office and stood still in front of Jordan’s desk.

The moment Jordan looked up from his files he felt warm and cold at the same time. He couldn’t help staring at her, at her red lips, curled up into a smile, at her dress with flowers, dancing around her legs, at her eyes, staring at him like he was staring at her.

“I'm Jordan…” He held out his hand and he cursed himself. He was meeting the girl he would love forever and the first thing he said was that?

It was a good thing that they were soulmates. It was a good thing that she wouldn’t be able to love someone else as much as she would love him.

“Lydia…” She was stuttering as much as he was and she completely forgot to place her hand in his.

Nervously he pulled his hand back, but he kept on staring at her and she kept on staring at him. “So…” He stopped after he had said the first word. She was his soulmate, but what do you say to a stranger who will change your entire life?

“So…” She answered and he saw how she played with the bracelet around her delicate wrist.

He noticed the number on it, showing a clear zero. “I've been looking forward to meet you.” He cursed again. She was his soulmate, the love of his life and he was being all formal and distant.

“Yeah, me too.” Lydia licked her lips and for a moment there was nothing but an awkward silence.

“Lydia?” The Sheriff cocked his head and noticed the looks the two young people were exchanging. “Parrish, why don’t you take the rest of the day off to get to know each other?” He smiled and for the first time Jordan looked away from the girl with the strawberry blonde hair.

“I don’t want to cause any trouble.” He noticed how Lydia’s lips curled up into a smile.

She seemed to like his politeness. Of course she did. She would love everything about him, even the things he hated himself.

“You don’t, Parrish. And now get out of here and be happy.” The Sheriff laughed and Jordan nodded.

It was more an impulse than an actually idea, but he grabbed Lydia’s hand and wanted to pull her with hem.

Right in that moment they felt it. Something changed. Something was happening. It was something inside of them. And it was the inscription on their tags.

Jordan didn’t let her hand go and Lydia seemed to be okay with that, but at the same time as he grabbed his necklace, she turned her wrist.

“Lydia & Jordan.” Followed by a number that wasn't readable. Yet.

It was official and Lydia turned her face towards Jordan, while he turned his face towards her.

“You have to tell me everything about yourself. Where you’ve been, what you’ve done and how you’ve ended up here.” Lydia smiled and she squeezed his hand in the most gentle and sweet way possible.

He knew that it was way too soon to kiss her. He would have years, decades to do that and even more. But he also knew that he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her because he was happy to have her. He wanted to kiss her because like everyone had said it just felt right. And he wanted to kiss her because he wanted her to know that he already loved her more than he could put into words. “I will.” He eventually answered.

The entire way towards the small bar where Jordan always had his lunch they didn’t say anything. They both didn’t know where to start and in a way it also felt weird to know that they would share the rest of their lives together. They would kiss, they would start a small little family and eventually they would die on the exact same day in each other’s arms.

“I was born in Texas.” Jordan eventually started the conversation. “My parents died in an accident when I was 17. They were together, just as they were promised, but I didn’t want to be alone. I knew that you were still years away from me, so I decided to join the army.” He paused for a short moment.

She was staring at him as if she wanted to make sure she would hear every word, every sentence. She had a frown on her forehead, as if she was trying to remember every little detail he would blurt out. She didn’t have to remember them.

He would gladly tell them over and over again. “I've spent a few years training and two years ago I was sent to Afghanistan.” He had seen people die there.

People who had not been wearing tags. People who had not been promised a happily ever after with another person.

“I came back after a year and took some time to forget everything I’ve seen and been through. And then the numbers reminded me that I was only months away from meeting you.” He smiled when he said that sentence and he stared at the Lydia, who was walking closer to him now than she had done a couple of minutes ago. “I've sent out application letters to literally every police station in America and this was the one that wanted to have me.” He smiled even brighter now and he sighed when she smiled back the prettiest smile he had ever seen.

“I've been born here eighteen years ago. I’ve got into college when I was seventeen and for some reason my best friend Stiles didn’t pick up his phone today.” She shrugged her shoulders and Jordan felt her side pressing to his now. “I'm studying mathematics and one day I’ll win a field medal.” She cocked his head a little while Jordan’s heart skipped a few beats.

“I'll be there when you get it.” He let her hand go and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to have her a little closer to him.

“Of course, you have to!” Lydia grabbed the hand over her shoulder and she smiled.

“No, I want to."


End file.
